Durban Super Giants beat MI Cape Town by 11 runs on DLS method

A superb knock by Heinrich Klaasen, and some good fortune with the weather, helped the Durban Super Giants see off MI Cape Town in the first completed match of the second edition SA20 League at Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday.

The Super Giants won by 11 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method after the heavens opened and the rain started falling halfway through the 17th over.

The game was still in the balance after Klaasen lost his wicket for a magnificent 85 off just 35 balls the over before. The home team were on 177/6, still needing 31 off 21 balls with four wickets in hand chasing MI Cape Town’s 205/7.

In the end Klaasen’s knock was the difference between the two teams, even though MI Cape Town’s Ryan Rickelton also scored a magnificent 87 from 51 balls to set up their big score.

But Klaasen’s ruthless attitude, especially against the MI Cape Town spinners, really won this game for his team.

After the first game was washed out without a ball being bowled, the organisers, crowd and players were happy for the match to start on the scheduled time.

And the excitement started from the very first ball, when home team’s left-arm seamer Reece Topley wrapped MI Cape Town opener Rassie van der Dussen on the pads.

However, Van der Dussen survived the review after he was initially given not out by the umpire. Hawkeye showing the ball would have gone over the bails.

Van der Dussen played a couple of big shots after his reprieve, but it was his opening partner Rickelton who stole the show.

The lefthander made his intentions clear when he decided to take the attack to Englishman Richard Gleeson, who he smoked for 23 runs in the first over of the match.

Rickelton used Gleeson’s pace to smack him over mid-wicket, while he also got a freebie in the form of a waist-high no-ball, which he also hit for six.

That assault was something MI Cape Town missed in the first season of the SA20 League. In many matches they struggled to build enough momentum in the powerplay to set a platform for their big hitters.

MI Cape Town, with Rickelton going like rocket, smashed 61 without loss in the opening powerplay, their biggest effort since the competition launched in 2023.

But the Durban side fought back in the middle overs, with the West Indian all-rounder Keemo Paul halting the run-rate with a couple of steady overs before taking the wicket of Van der Dussen, who skyed a slower ball before being caught in the deep for 24 off 20 balls, with the MI Cape Town score on

South Africa’s exciting youngster Dewald Brevis followed Van der Dussen to the dressing room soon afterwards for five off five balls after he was brilliantly caught on the mid-on boundary by Matthew Breetzke off the bowling of the Super Giants’ captain Keshav Maharaj.

Rickelton, though, still continued to play with freedom, while his batting partners also swung from the hip when they entered the fray.

The much-talked about Connor Esterhuizen hit a few lusty blows over the leg side, but he perished in the 13th over with the score on 128/3

Rickelton eventually lost his wicket when he played a Paul slower ball on to his wickets. He went for a well-played 87 off 51 balls with the score on 150/4.

Liam Livingston and captain Kieron Pollard made full use of the platform Rickelton set up. Englishman Livingston hit 25 off 20 balls, before Pollard went berserk and smashed a 14-ball 31, which included four fours and one six.

His knock got MI Cape Town over the 200 mark, as they ended on 207/5. 

MI Cape Town’s two Test bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Beuran Hendricks made brilliant use of the new ball, getting the big wickets of Quinton de Kock and Wian Mulder.

Proteas T20 wicket-keeper De Kock slapped a ball straight to Sam Curren in the covers for just five runs, before Mulder was bowled by an absolute peach by Hendricks. 

Breetzke and the big-hitting Heinrich Klaasen lived charmed lives, as they edged quite a number of deliveries passed wicket-keeper Grant Roelofsen, who was a concussion substitute in place of Rickelton, who took a knock to the head whilst batting.

But when they did middle the ball, it stayed hit. Breetzke hit four fours and two sixes in his knock of 39, but it was Klaasen who took the game away from the Capetonians… 

The Proteas middle-order star has had a couple of years to remember and he continues to bat with supreme confidence. He blasted the MI Cape Town bowlers to all parts with an exhibition of clean hitting.

Klaasen ruined Hendricks’ figures when he hit 15 runs off the 15th over to put his team on the brink of victory, despite losing the crucial wicket of West Indian Nicholas Pooran. 

However, Klaasen would eventually succumb to a Rabada full toss, which he should have hit out of the ground, but ended up finding Curran on the long-on boundary.